This invention relates to shipping container support apparatus, and specifically, to recyclable pallets for supporting containers.
Pallets for supporting shipping containers have been know for some time. Pallets serve several useful functions including protection of containers from contaminated floors or other surfaces and facilitating lifting of the containers. One or more containers may be placed on, or attached to, a pallet and moved with a lift device such as a fork lift truck, pallet jack or other device with ease and safety.
Pallets are often made of wood. The weight and bulk of wooden pallets results in high costs for transporting, storing and disposal of the pallets. Another problem is handling and storing pallets after use. Often they must be transported for reuse or refurbishment, further adding to their cost. Often, they are destroyed after use, further adding to already overloaded landfill facilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,061 discloses a pallet made of corrugated paperboard. Although use of corrugated paperboard is advantageous with respect to weight, bulk and recycling issues, new complications are introduced. The added complexity of corrugated pallets required to provide adequate stiffness and load support strength complicates use with lift apparatus such as fork lift trucks. Also, a large number of different pieces are often required to assemble the pallets, especially if used with different sized containers. Large numbers of parts adds to the cost of inventory and assembly costs of the pallets.
The limitations of present recyclable pallets have demonstrated the need for a simple, low-cost method of supporting containers compatible with automated lift equipment.
Therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a pallet or support assembly for containers which has considerable flexibility for use with different sized containers.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a support assembly for containers which is made of recyclable materials.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a support assembly which reduces the number of different parts, reducing manufacturing and inventory cost.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a support assembly for containers which may be used with lift equipment such as forklift trucks and lift jacks.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a support assembly for containers which may be lifted from any of four sides by lift equipment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a support assembly for containers which can be easily and quickly attached to the bottom of the container.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a support assembly for containers which reduces the need for different size pallets for different size containers.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an integral support assembly for containers which can be assembled from a knockdown configuration without special tools or equipment.
The support assembly of the present invention is a pallet foot made from, at least in part, a recyclable corrugated material such as corrugated paperboard or corrugated plastic. The pallet foot is dimensioned in width so that two or more pallet feet replace a conventional pallet to support a container. The length of the pallet foot is normally equal to, or less than, the length of the container which it is supporting. In the preferred embodiments, the pallet foot is applied to the bottom of a container, such as a corrugated box, by an adhesive.
Dimensioning of the pallet foot so that two or more pallet feet are used to support a container allows greater flexibility, in that the same size pallet foot can be used with a wide variety of container sizes. The pallet foot has spaced through openings allowing lift tines of a standard fork lift or palletjack to be inserted. Spacing of the two or more pallet feet allows the tines of a lift fork or lift jack to be inserted between adjacent pallet feet. In this manner, a lift device is able to pick up the container from any of four sides of the container.
In the preferred embodiments, the pallet foot is made of a top pallet foot portion and a bottom pallet foot portion. The top and bottom portions are bonded together at side panels to form an open-ended box structure. Optional stringers add stacking strength and rigidity to the structure. The internal structure of the pallet foot is arranged to allow insertion of the tines of a forklift device into the open ends of the pallet foot.
In the most preferred embodiments, the top portion and the bottom portion are identical folded panels of corrugated material having a U-shaped cross-section. The top portion comprises a top panel and two fold or score lines defining an outside panel and an inside panel. The bottom portion comprises a bottom panel and two fold or score lines defining a second outside panel and a second inside panel. The top portion is inverted and assembled so that the outside panel of the top portion overlaps, and is bonded to, the inside panel of the bottom portion. Likewise, the outside panel of the bottom portion overlaps and is bonded to, the inside panel of the top portion. In this embodiment, the top and bottom portions are manufactured as identical parts, simplifying tooling, dies, inventory and assembly of the pallet feet.
In the preferred embodiments, the ridges and valleys of the top and bottom panel corrugations run along the length direction, and transverse to, the fold lines of the respective top and bottom portions. In this manner, the corrugations of the side panels run vertically, increasing the stacking strength of the pallet foot. The stacking strength is further enhanced by one or more stringers in the rectangular through opening of the pallet foot formed by the top and bottom portions when assembled. The stringers are bonded to the inside surfaces of the top and bottom panels and are placed to allow insertion of standard sized forklift truck tines.
In a preferred embodiment at least two box stringers, extending the width of the pallet foot, are used. The box stringers are made of corrugated material, folded and bonded to form a rectangular open-ended box structure. The length direction of the box stringers, is sufficient for insertion of a standard forklift truck tine, and the height or depth of the box stringer is the same as the inside depth of the pallet foot rectangular opening. The box stringers are bonded to the top panel and the bottom panel. In the preferred embodiments, the box stringers are also bonded to auxiliary stringers or the inside face of the inside panels of the pallet foot to increase stability of the pallet foot. In another preferred embodiment, one or more stringers of laminated or spirally wrapped corrugated material are bonded to the inside surfaces of the top and bottom panels.
Still other embodiments provide pallet feet pre-bonded to the container and supplied in a knockdown configuration. In a preferred embodiment, both the container and attached pallet feet are folded to minimize storage and shipping volume. A user needs only to unfold the container and pallet foot elements and assemble without the need for special tools or materials such as glue guns or banding equipment.